


Luke vs. Nick: Guitar Riff-Off (a.k.a There's Something Wrong With Nick)

by Bluefire510



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: A lot of songs tossed around, But not without a fight, Caleb Covington Being an Asshole, Caleb!Nick, F/M, Flirting Via Guitar, Guitar talk, Jealous Luke, Julie's done, Luke uses 'shit' liberally, Luke v. Nick Guitar Duel, Nick's good at guitar and Luke begrudgingly accepts it, Possessed Nick, Rated T for language, Save Nick pls?, you'll see why - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:27:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28665462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluefire510/pseuds/Bluefire510
Summary: “Luke-” Julie warned, seeing where this was going.He merely smiled innocently, skipping over to his other electric, already finding the wire to plug it into the amp, “What? Just a friendly exchange of riffs. No stakes, right?”But her eyes narrowed at him. She  was not going to let her friend fall into the trap, “Nick, you don’t have to-”“Oh. No, I want to!” Nick had already risen from the stool, strumming some warm up chords, “I would very much like to partake in this exchange.”“Great!” Luke had put on his blue Fender and had connected it to the amp, “Let’s see how you do. Play whatever you want, but keep it on beat. And Julie,” he joined his hands together in a pleading manner, “if you will, pretty please?”Julie sighed. Although she could tell this was going to end in a disaster, she still stalked over to her keyboard.Switching it on, she pressed the button that activated the drum beats, setting the tempo.“Ugh. Boys...” she grumbled to herself.Then she was kicking back on the couch, waiting for the show to start.This oughta be good.______________The one where Luke challenges Nick to a riff-off and gets more than he bargains for.
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 18
Kudos: 148





	Luke vs. Nick: Guitar Riff-Off (a.k.a There's Something Wrong With Nick)

Luke had poofed back home, calling the day trip to the beach a bust after his friends, his brothers, had totally abandoned him, citing other plans. 

Like they died together, that didn’t count for anything? 

Apparently when he had brought this up to Alex, he claimed that was all the more reason to spend some time apart. 

Or course, he had said this while walking hand-in-hand Willie down the boardwalk so… 

And Luke had thought Reggie at least got his back. 

But then their beloved bassist got distracted and Luke couldn’t even bring himself to spend more time at the beach when there was nothing for him to do and no one to do anything with. 

Well, it was their loss anyway, he grumbled to himself. 

Appearing before the studio, he perked up at the sound of Julie’s voice coming from inside, accompanied with music playing through the speakers. 

_Julie…_

He may have smiled from just hearing her talk...

Now _that_ was one person he would not mind doing nothing with, just as long as he got to be with her. 

But as he thought about it, Luke actually hadn’t seen Julie all that much. 

At least alone. 

Because she had been hanging around with a certain blond lacrosse player from her dance class as of late. Always bringing him by the house which… complicated things. 

Ever since Julie somehow magically cured them of Caleb’s stamp, they were visible and audible to just everyone, not just Julie. 

As long as they were within a certain distance away from Julie at least. And although they were visible to Lifers, that didn’t mean they were able to come in contact with them. They were ghosts at the end of the day after all. 

So whenever Julie would bring Nick to the house, hanging for study sessions (he refused to call them ‘study dates’ as Flynn did) or just to check out band rehearsal (Julie had fed Nick some lie about the band being in town for the time being- and he had totally bought it. Loser), he and the boys would be there. 

Luke had the displeasure of actually meeting Nick properly. 

And he despised the guy on sight. 

Even more so when he spoke to him. 

There was… just something about Nick that rubbed him the wrong way. 

Maybe it was the fact he wore fedoras like a freakin’ moron, or the way he insisted on calling Julie by ‘Molina’ instead of by her own goddamn name, - 

Or maybe it was because he was always hanging out with their favorite little Lifer a little too much. 

The guys called him ‘jealous’ or whatever. 

Luke preferred the term ‘concerned’ or ‘protective’, just… not ‘jealous’. 

The connotations of the word ‘jealous’ would imply that… that he would perceive Nick as some sort of threat.

Which he did not. Obviously. 

Julie could hang out with him for all that he cared and that was fine by- 

“Molina, check this out!” 

-him. 

His smile fell. 

Speak of the devil. 

Luke stood on his tip-toes, peeking through the window much like how he and the boys did to spy on Julie and Flynn, and what he saw made his boiling… (figuratively, or whatever- he was pissed!)

That freakin’, floppy-haired, freckled, fedora wearin’, Julie stealin’ punk, pain in Luke’s ass, bane of his afterlife existence (yes, over Caleb)- 

Not only was he in the studio, _their_ studio, their sanctuary of music, but he was- 

No way.

No way in hell. 

Slung over Lacrosse Boy’s shoulder was a guitar, a beautiful Antique White Custom 24, with a skull and roses strap attached, already plugged into an amp. 

Luke clenched his fist, registering the music he was hearing was in fact coming from the amp, coming from the guitar, coming from _Nick._

_He’s playing my... guitar..._

_My. Goddamn. Guitar?!_

Out of all the guitars in the studio! Nick just had to choose _his_?! Julie’s mom had such a lovely collection lining around, like the acoustic on its stand. Surely Julie had already drawn attention to them, wouldn’t he want to play one of those? 

Alright, that may be drawing the line. Julie wouldn’t even let _him_ touch her mom’s guitar. 

But still!

The audacity, the absolute nerve of someone, and not just any someone- _that_ someone, to just so casually pick up his guitar, his _baby_ , and start picking a tune- it was- 

It was a war crime! Like Luke was pretty sure this violated the Geneva conventions or something like that. Totally unacceptable. Called for arrest, banishment from the studio, the house, from Julie’s life (okay, he could dream). 

Yet that wasn’t even the worse part. He didn’t think anything could top the blatant disrespect of some stranger stealing his guitar to play. Especially if it was to impress Julie. 

What was worse- 

He didn’t completely suck. 

In fact, it was the most competent playing he had ever encountered in recent years. 

The way Nick handled the guitar, as if he knew just how precious the instrument was, how he cradled the neck with care but with enough strength and dexterity to dance his fingers up and down the frets, playing- no, _landing_ the notes, his head tilted back, face contorted into one of emotion and reverence, the reverence required whenever one reached a tone that was just… heavenly- 

Oh no. 

That was guitar face. Like a serious case of guitar face. 

He knew because Alex and Reggie had teased him mercilessly when he would try to emulate the kind of face Steve Vai or Hendrix would make whenever they played. 

(Alex had said it looked almost pornographic, but come on, it was hard to not look like that whenever one would pull guitar face. He, and just about every other guitarist, couldn’t help it.)

Nick’s guitar face came naturally, and Luke had totally seen some guys back in the ‘90s on open mic nights force it to appear cooler than what their playing was. 

Just from what he had seen, and heard, it was undeniable- and the realization rippled through his ghostly form as painful and sudden as Caleb’s jolts: 

Nick was a guitarist. 

Shit. 

Luke did not need this. This was the last thing he needed. The cherry on top of this messed up Saturday afternoon. 

He had found solace in the fact that what he and Julie shared, their passion for music, was too strong for someone like jock Nick to come between (It transcended decades and even death, for crying out loud!). And it had sustained their ‘interesting little relationship’ back when they couldn’t even so much as hold hands. 

Music was his and Julie’s thing. 

Finding out that Nick could play guitar now made him a threat. 

Yeah, he sounded super dramatic. But he didn’t care. 

He wasn’t going to let this stand. 

“Hey!” Luke shouted, stepping into the garage, much like how he barked at Flynn during ‘Flying Solo’. Even Julie and Nick jumped like she had. 

Oh the perks to now being visible within close proximity to Julie. 

He waltzed in, trying to exude some level of nonchalance and acting as though he had not been spying on them from the door. 

“Jules,” he smiled, draping his arm around her in greeting, which he did so often because he could.

Now that they could touch, he often found himself gravitating towards the girl more often, always up for a hug or even some snuggling up against each other during their weekly movie nights. 

He definitely didn’t take it for granted. Not for a second. 

She greeted him merrily, a smile pushing against her cheeks, and that was enough for the ghost to warm up and return it with one of his own.

When he turned to face Nick though, who studied him curiously (a bit too curiously for his taste) his smile was borderline nasty. 

“What do we have here?” he may have drawn Julie closer to his side, sizing Nick up as he did. 

The boy had settled on a stool, Luke’s guitar resting on his lap. He waved at him. The bastard, “Hey, Luke.” 

“Nick,” he dropped his arm, releasing Julie in favor of nearing the blond, “Always nice to see you.” 

“Uh, yeah. Likewise,” 

Luke frowned. Okay, proper much? He couldn’t help but notice that the guy had been so… formal. More formal than what he got a glimpse of in that school hallway weeks ago. 

During his little lookover at Nick, he was curious to find a blazer and dress shirt in place of his usual letterman and tee, and he didn’t wear jeans but… _trousers?_

Okay, Luke wasn’t stupid. Clearly this was some sort of attempt to clean up and look classy to impress Julie.

He was well aware that Julie has a thing for guys in dress shirts and trousers. He had seen the way she got flustered over Patrick Swayze when they had all watched _Dirty Dancing_.

(Poor girl must had been so embarrassed, she wouldn’t even meet his eyes whenever he brought the movie up. Weird.)

“Back from the beach already, Luke?” Julie said while she moved to stand between her and Nick. It was subtle, but he recognized her tactic. 

It wasn’t like he was going to freakin’ deck the guy (not like he could), but Julie was always wary of leaving Nick alone with Luke.

The other guys interacted with him easily so she didn’t mind leaving to grab snacks from the kitchen whenever he hung back in the living room.

But when it would be just Luke, she made sure to bring him along to the kitchen. 

Which was alright with him. 

“Yeah. It was fun, but got boring quickly. So I just thought to poof-er pop,” he quickly corrected, earning an exasperated sigh from Julie, “... pop right back here and see what you guys were up to.”

“Where are the others?” 

“Reggie stuck around to pet some puppies-” _Ghost puppies_ “-and Alex ran into Willie, and you know how that goes.” 

Julie nodded, having met Willie already, once it had been considered safe to do so ever since Caleb’s disappearance. 

Apparently, their favorite evil ghost magician had vanished into thin air it seemed (and not for a trick either). No one at the club had heard from him or knew where he went, and to be honest, that put Luke on edge. 

It was not like the guy had solved his unfinished business and crossed over, that didn’t seem to be the possibility. But Luke tried to push his fears aside, or at least not voice them out loud, for Alex’s sake. 

He didn’t want to put a lid on Alex’s excitement of finally being able to spend time with Willie without repercussions. 

And Willie knew better than to bring it up too, even though he shared Luke’s wariness over this supposed period of peace. 

Nick’s ears perked up at Willie’s name mentioned, and Luke figured he would ask about him. But he didn’t, almost like he already had the background information and just… knew. 

Maybe Alex had told him or something. But it didn’t seem like the drummer to just be tossing out personal information, especially information regarding his sexuality, to people he didn’t know for very long. 

“So…” Luke drew out, “you play, huh?” he gestured to the guitar.

 _His_ guitar. 

At this, he sneaked a peek at Julie, who, for a moment, appeared guilty.

As she should be. For letting Nick anywhere near his prized possessions. And for being good audience to his playing, for enjoying listening to the guy play for her. 

Nick made a dismissive motion with his hand, “A little. I’ve been learning on and off for years. I try to pick it back up every once in a while,” he let out an exhale, “But I’m always so busy with the lacrosse-” 

“He’s just being modest,” Julie cut in, she placed a hand on the guy’s shoulder, “Nick, here, is actually the best guitarist in our music program.” 

Luke’s fake smile waned for a fraction of a second. 

_Oh fan-freakin’-tastic._

Did she say that just to spite him? Or to build Nick’s confidence in the wake of Luke’s obvious attempts to intimidate him? Julie was always doing that, making sure ol’ Nickypoo is comfortable like the great host and friend that she was. 

That was what he loved about her, always attentive. Always trying to help. 

But this was not helping _him_ , whatsoever. 

And then Nick went ahead and flushed at Julie’s compliment, “Oh Molina, you’re so sweet.” 

“Yeah a little _too_ sweet” 

The two of them stared at him, puzzled, and he realized he had said that out loud. And in the snide way he had thought about in his head. 

Luke laughed, in an attempt to recover from his slip. He clapped his hands, “Anyways, best guitarist in the program, huh?”

“I guess,” 

“That’s cool, man. Real cool. To be the best in a _school_ program,” he pursed his lips, leaning in close, “You done any _real_ performing though?” 

_“Luke,”_ Julie probably wanted to wring his neck out just now. 

“Like outside of school?” 

“Uh huh,” 

“Can’t say that I have-” 

“ _Well,_ It’s a whole other level,” he crossed his arms, drawing attention to his muscles, “Trust me.” 

Nick chuckled, “I’d assume so. Coming from a rockstar such as yourself, I’ll just take your word for it.” 

Julie’s feet tapped against the floor, stepping in and out, most likely debating whether or not to salvage this conversation or to pull Luke aside and reprimand him again for trying to belittle Nick.. again 

(Not like the guy took any offense. Seemed like Luke’s backhanded compliments would just slide right off his shoulders- his sunny disposition robust. God, how it drove Luke crazy every time he came over...) 

But he was curious, okay?

Nick certainly seemed comfortable playing. Couldn’t blame Luke for wanting to know if he had any experience under his belt. 

Performing at school wasn’t the same as performing on stage, in a club, when the energy was different, and the pressure to put on a good show could be too much.

He had witnessed a great number of skilled guitarists from his school choke when they tried to busk or play in venues that was not their auditorium. 

Nick… had some chops, from the little snippet Luke had heard. 

But oh how badly he wanted to put it to the test. 

A lightbulb flashed. 

A smirk worked its way onto Luke’s face. 

_Now that is a fun idea._

“Hey Nick,” Luke cocked his head to the side, “I’m just curious. I mean, I know you don’t have time to play as much, and maybe that’s why you’re a tad bit rusty-” Cue glare from Julie...

He continued nevertheless, “-but just wondering… you got a lot of songs you could play off the top of your head?” 

The blond hummed, contemplating about it for a moment, before answering. 

“Yeah. I do have some favorites that I got… stuck in my head,” he shot a teasing smirk in Julie’s direction, “And maybe I should _let them out?_ ” 

Julie giggled, burying her face in her hands. 

“Oh-” she fanned herself, catching Luke’s confusion, “It’s just this- this inside joke we have. It’s-” she waved it off, last of her giggling fit subsiding, “It’s nothing.”

_Didn’t seem like nothing to me…_

Luke decided to put whatever _that_ was behind him and focus at the task at hand: 

Utterly destroying Nick. 

“There’s this game I wanna play with you. From one guitarist to another,”

Now _that_ pained Luke to say. As if they were… equals.

But they would soon find out who was the better musician out of the two of them… 

“Ooh what kind of game?” Nick appeared delighted at the prospect. 

“You familiar with a riff-off?” 

Nick shook his head. 

“We both take turns, playing riffs. We stay on beat, first one to slip or run out of songs to play loses,”

“That sounds like fun!” 

Luke hopped up and down, lowkey mocking his enthusiasm, “It _so_ is!” 

“Luke-” Julie warned, seeing where this was going. 

He merely smiled innocently, skipping over to his other electric, already finding the wire to plug it into the amp, “What? Just a friendly exchange of riffs. No stakes, right?” 

But her eyes narrowed at him. She was not going to let her friend fall into the trap, “Nick, you don’t have to-” 

“Oh. No, I want to!” Nick had already risen from the stool, strumming some warm up chords, “I would very much like to partake in this exchange.” 

“Great!” Luke had put on his blue Fender and had connected it to the amp, “Let’s see how you do. Play whatever you want, but keep it on beat. And Julie,” he joined his hands together in a pleading manner, “if you will, pretty please?” 

Julie sighed. Although she could tell this was going to end in a disaster, she still stalked over to her keyboard. 

Switching it on, she pressed the button that activated the drum beats, setting the tempo. 

“Ugh. Boys...” she grumbled to herself. 

Then she was kicking back on the couch, waiting for the show to start. 

Luke motioned at Nick to start first. It would give him the chance to observe the guy’s playing more closely. 

He watched Nick take a deep breath to steady himself, maybe due to a case of nerves. His hands would be poised to play but he kept retracting, as if second-guessing his desire to participate in this challenge. 

For a second there, Luke thought it was a wrap. That Nick was too nervous to play, from the way his gaze flickered between him and Julie (with his attention mostly on Julie though which did not make Luke happy). 

But then he closed his eyes, breathed in deeply once more, and when they opened again, they were ablaze with determination- and he gunned for it. 

Luke did not expect it to be so strong right out of the gate. And especially for a guy who had never, ever done this challenge before. 

But the guy forewent chords, fingers already in a frenzy along the neck, and his other hand, furiously picking the notes to a song that Luke couldn’t place, but it had Julie’s head bobbing and singing along in recognition. 

_“Hmm… you make me feel… like I’m alive again…”_

Hey! 

He was the ghost here! That was his line!

The song obviously was metaphorical, but a fire coursed through his insides hearing Julie responding to Nick’s playing, even knowing the song (that most likely came out after he had died- which was unfair!). 

But besides that, Nick was holding his own pretty well. 

The outer corner of Luke’s lips twitched. And as much as he would have loved for him to buckle under the pressure of a metronome and playing songs off the top of his head, this was proving to become an actual challenge. 

Oh, but Luke had to burst his bubble, tearing through the other guy’s picking with the much needed dose of Aerosmith. And if it came out as bitter and as aggressive as he thought then blame the song (it was called ‘Eat the Rich’ after all). 

Julie frowned at him slightly, not happy that he cut off Nick while he was still going. But hey, there was nothing in the rules to say that he couldn’t.

Hell, cutting the other person off was normal, _encouraged_ even. It made for a good show when it pissed the other person off, really pushed them to top it the next round. 

The song, to Luke’s horror, Julie did not know, and he sought to fix that afterwards, yet it totally egged him on that despite her being cross with him, she nodded along to his riff, appearing impressed even when it seemed out of her element. 

Yeah this riff, this song, was so not _Julie and the Phantoms_. 

But oh how it wailed, how it stirred his appetite for that high octane, rebellious rock sound, the kind of vibe he had tried to emulate in the earlier versions of _Sunset Curve_ ’s setlist.

It had been so long since he played something from the ‘90s- it felt like coming home. 

He carried on, getting into it, picking at the strings quickly and with ease. The bouncing between his heels, tilting back as he let his fingers do the talking, the taunting, he had about half a mind to burp in Nick’s face and claim it was what the song required (and it did)- 

But wait. 

Hold on. 

Was Nick… side-eyeing him? 

Like, totally side-eyeing him, his playing, maybe even a smirk on his face, that could only be read as, ‘Hmm, cute,’.

_The hell?_

He wasn’t crazy, that was actually happening, and for once Nick didn’t seem to be the clean cut, boy next door that he had everyone else believing. 

Before he could comment on it, Nick lunged forward, interrupting _him_ this time with a song he vaguely knew.

He knew it because Julie had shown it to him purely for that guitar solo alone- by Harry something or whatever. 

Still miffed about the side-eye, Luke was forced to hang back while Nick, guitar face and all, completely embodied the melody. 

He raised the neck of the guitar upwards, eyebrows scrunched in concentration - the need to perfect every little note was evident, and he did, smiling when nailing the more intricate parts.

It had been equal parts skill, equal parts almost mindless the way he moved. 

He moved as if he was carried along by the music, and dammit if it wasn’t the most graceful thing Luke had ever seen, especially on such a young guitarist. 

And that was where they differed in style.

While Nick handled it with care, putting thought into every note, the dynamic in the song speaking for itself, his movements influenced by the song, Luke paired his own body’s dynamism with whatever he was playing, sometimes infusing the most mundane song into something that buzzes to life. 

_She…_

_She lives in daydreams with me…_

_She's the first one that I see…_

Luke could hear the lyrics clear as day through Nick’s playing, and that was when he remembered Julie was there too, and it was her singing along to Nick’s song yet again, smiling, her brown eyes doing that thing they do when they sparkled whenever she performed. 

That seemed to be an invitation for Nick to come closer, his body fully facing Julie now, disregarding Luke, and just practically serenading her right back with… 

… with his guitar. 

Oh hell no. 

The scene was all too familiar. 

It reminded Luke of what happened between him and Julie during ‘Edge of Great’, with Julie singing sweetly with her angelic voice, his guitar singing to her right back, both riding the same wave, the chemistry so palpable that everyone, including Nick, felt it. 

But this time around, Luke was the poor loser watching this pseudo-duet unfolding before his eyes. 

And with literally the same guitar he used for the same performance to boot. 

_Alright, that’s it,_ Luke readied his instrument, _time to kill the mood._

Then he launched himself on top one of the chairs, startling Nick, and just went ham on _Rush_ \- 

“Luke! Get down from there!” Julie leapt off the couch and was right below him. 

Nick’s arm reached out, “Be careful!” 

“Oh shut up,” Luke sneered. _I’m dead already, asshole._

The blond backed up, hands raised placatingly, and Julie was about to go to his side and apologize on behalf of Luke, but the brunete switched gears, skipping onto the coffee table, kicking away the papers and dropped to his knees, all while the spirit of Alex Lifeson took hold of him as he shredded ‘Working Man’. 

Julie naturally followed him, to yell at him probably, but she stopped. Settling for crossing her arms as she absorbed Luke’s pulsating form. 

Right there, the way they were positioned, it was almost if he was up on stage, maybe finishing off a power slide, ending on the edge to where the screaming girls would squeal and try to touch him.

Not like he hadn’t done that before. 

At least not since before he had met Julie. 

Now he couldn’t even think to try that again on stage, knowing she was there with him. No need to shamelessly throw himself out there on the stage to get girls’ attention during a show. 

Not when there was only one girl’s attention he wanted more than anything else. 

And she was standing in front of him, trying hard not to be swayed by the rockstar showmanship of it all. But the slight uptick on the edge of her mouth said otherwise. 

An idea struck him just now. 

_Hmm… might as well._

He shot her a wink. 

Julie froze, eyes widening. 

Then a visible blush broke out on her cheeks and she immediately averted her gaze. 

And Luke was pretty damned pleased with himself. 

_Mission accomplished._

His victory was cut short though, when all of the sudden Nick kicked it up a notch. 

Stomping on the compression pedal (that Luke didn’t even know was already set up, like what?), he broke out into a bluesy run, something considerably slower than what their original tempo called for-

“Woah, wait,” Luke climbed off the table, “You’re out. You’re not on beat.” 

Nick kept playing and managed to still shrug, “I’m keeping time, aren’t I?” 

“What-?” 

His ears strained to hear their makeshift metronome through Nick’s soulful tones and fair enough, the guy was still on time, albeit it was considerably slower. But, Luke swore it had gone faster before… 

There was no way Nick had changed the BPM, he hadn’t even touched the keyboard. But that didn’t explain- that made no sense- 

Julie appeared momentarily confused as well, but she chalked it off to maybe not having noticed it had been this slower tempo the entire time, “He _is_ keeping time, Luke…” 

“But- but-” he faltered. 

He couldn’t prove anything.

And he could only imagine what it looked like to Julie, him being a sore loser and finding just about any excuse to disqualify Nick. 

Oh no. He was not going to win that way. If he was going to win, it was because he was the superior guitar player. 

Alright, Nick had gone on long enough. 

_Time for a little T.Rex…_

Making sure to adjust to the time change (and there _was_ a time change, he wasn’t crazy!), he employed the ever iconic ‘20th Century Boy’ to work in his favor, albeit slightly slower.

He grooved to it, walking back to where Nick stood. 

“Marc Bolan?” The blond noted, “Nice.” 

Oh, he had taste. Good. 

“I’d play ‘Bang a Gong’, but…” he clicked his tongue, nodding his head in Julie’s direction, “there’s a lady present.” 

Something flashed in Nick’s eyes, “You’re right.”

Throwing Luke off, he spun around, strutting back to Julie, working her with a charming smile, the familiar sounds of Roy Orbinson filling the room. 

Oh that was low. 

Playing ‘Pretty Woman’?! Really? 

Cheesy. Tacky. Uninspired. 

But effective. 

Pairing the song, Nick’s steady gaze on her, and the fact he was growing ever so closer to her, Julie was back to blushing, maybe even more now than when Luke had winked at her.

 _C’mon, Luke. Think of something,_ his mind scrambled, _“Nip this in the bud before Julie gets wooed by this idiot in a fedora…_

“You know that movie’s about a hooker, right?” he blurted out. 

Poor choice of words. 

Julie eyebrows furrowed and she gaped at him. 

Luke’s eyes grew, “I-I’m not saying- geez, _you’re_ not a hooker, Julie! Obviously, I just-” 

_He was digging himself into a hole here, wasn’t he?_

Nick circled her, laughing at Luke’s foot-in-mouth moment, “I’m just merely playing before the pretty woman I see before me…”

He strummed a chord, letting it ring out, so he could take the opportunity to grasp Julie’s hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing her fingers. 

“Oh, Nick…” she responded, breathlessly, the blush extended far past her cheeks, now down to her neck. 

Luke choked. 

He. 

Did. 

Not. 

_This- this is- ARGGHHHH_

Luke couldn’t even think coherently, he was too goddamn furious. 

His jaw clenched at the sight of Nick holding Julie’s hand, his grip on his guitar tightened to the point the strings dug into his skin, dug in so deep that his callouses weren’t enough to protect himself from the marks that would definitely be left behind once he released. 

Here he was, actually showcasing his skills with songs he knew would kill, but Nick- _Nick-_ was clearly catering every song choice to Julie, songs she would sing to, songs that she could _name_ , all in some way to impress her. 

They were equally matched, although vibing on drastically different frequencies. Luke was holding his own yes, and so was Nick, but if he ended up winning? And winning Julie’s favor while he was at it?

Luke couldn’t picture a more humiliating defeat. 

Nick played more of ‘Pretty Woman’ and Luke couldn’t help but notice the tempo had changed back to how it was before (how was he doing that??). 

Luke continued, his fury triggering some more advanced guitar work he got tucked away in his musicians’ toolbox. 

He hit Nick with some _Queen_ , nearly fumbling with the fingering because it’s freakin’ Brian May he was trying to play, people!

To which the guy threw him a curveball, dropping any intention of getting Julie’s attention: Buddy Guy- really bringing it back, and really playing into his strengths as a bluesy, jazz-oriented player. 

And if he was playing his strengths, Luke had to do it too. 

Then he harkened back to Joan Jett and her _Runaways_ era- music pulsating and electric. 

He was met with more jazzy riffs, echoing soulful chords out into the studio. 

And so it went on like that. 

They would trade songs, their influences, somehow the tempo switching between speeds that better accommodated their own playing, the slower speed to which Nick could imbue the raw, tender emotions in his notes, the faster tempo for Luke to go the only way he knew how (“face first, full charge”). 

During their back and forths, they ended up circling each other, the tension building with each rotation, accumulating into what Luke could safely say was an ultimate ‘showdown’.

Meanwhile, Julie stood off to the side, enraptured by the art of it, contest or not- it was incredible to witness- 

This concoction of gripping melodies from different genres, different times…. 

Julie was amazed for how long this had been going on, with neither side letting up. 

Nick was currently translating the trumpets from ‘Mack the Knife’ for a part fitting for the electric, and Luke had to begrudgingly admit that it sounded tight. 

But Luke wasn’t going to throw in the towel just yet. He had albums and albums worth of songs still left in him, and he was ready to draw this out for as long as he needed to. 

He was… willing to go on forever… 

Luke took one look at Julie. That sentiment might not sit well with her. 

He could see it in her eyes, the way she studied him and not Nick, who kept playing. She was blown away by what he had created here, yes. But there was a glint of concern there. 

She was tired. 

Her shoulders were slumped and Luke could tell it was a struggle for her to keep that smile on her face. She wanted this done and over with. She wanted them to stop fighting, or dueling or whatever. She wanted nothing more than to leave probably. 

Whatever was going on between him and Nick in their riff-off, even though it might have started because of their mutual fondness for Julie, wanting to impress her, it turned into some sort of dick-measuring contest and it was… just not fun for anybody anymore, especially not her. 

Luke’s heart went out to her. 

He didn’t mean to test Julie’s patience with him, and he felt so guilty putting her through the ringer today, by being difficult, by being so outright nasty to Nick when, in all honesty, the guy didn’t do anything to provoke such behavior. 

Alright, he knew what he needed to do. 

He just hoped it would work. 

Concentrating hard, maybe even using his ghostly abilities (which he had yet to master thanks to Willie), he focused on the tempo to not change when it was his turn, channeling the keyboard like how Willie would with the police cruisers. Wanting it as slow as Nick’s… maybe even slower. 

There was a song he had in mind. Different from the others he had played so far. A song that his mom had loved when he was growing up, something that his dad would play for her on the stereo, especially whenever he needed to remind her… how much he really cared for her. 

(Valentine’s Day and anniversaries were mushy to the max at the Patterson household…)

It was… gutsy, to say the least. Given the lyrics, the music, they were… revealing. Way more revealing than what he was willing to say during this state of their relationship- whatever that may be. 

But that was what his mind went to first, and that was just how he liked to operate. 

The notes flowed out of him before he could even stop himself. 

Nick slipped, his strings screeching, stunned, firstly because the tempo remained the same, and secondly- 

Luke was encroaching on his territory. Gone was the larger than life power chords, the animated bouncing- 

He was pouring every ounce of his soul into each note. 

Throwing his head back, he gave it everything he got, driven by the emotion this time instead of trying to force it all in. He couldn’t mess this up, not when it finally got Julie’s attention. 

Something shifted in her face, and the tense looks she had been giving him throughout the afternoon melted away, making way for a softer expression. 

Her breath hitched. 

She recognized the song, the first one of his that she was able to make out since the start of this riff-off. 

Her lips moved, brushing through the lyrics to just confirm, yes, this was that song. 

The guitar solo never lasted for that long, but Luke had to keep going… 

This was by no means a singing contest, he was not getting any more points for doing it, but he found himself picking off where Bryan Adams had left off before the solo. 

_“....And baby you're all that I want…”_ he punctuated every other beat with a gut-wrenching chord, “ _When you're lyin' here in my arms…”_

He really was laying it all out here wasn’t he? Oh god. He couldn’t pass it off as performing as the song intended it when he had chosen the song to play to begin with. 

Now it was obvious, he was referencing his own feelings, his own wants, to hold her, to be with her, to be near her… 

He had to be near her. 

Julie’s eyes never left his, and like that magical force that summoned him to her that night in the Orpheum, he was drawn closer to her, breaking the circle he formed with Nick. 

Kicking the wire out of the way, he played and sang dropping down to his knees once more, but less of a showing off way. No. Not like this. Not when she was on her feet, towering over him while he was on the floor. 

This was all about surrendering. 

God, this whole time he had been trying to control this, trying to make things work with Julie, clearing out any other obstacles in their way- not being able to touch, Nick- all to distract from the glaring obvious one: 

She was alive. And he wasn’t. 

He wasn’t alive… not like Nick. 

He wasn’t going to take her out to prom, not without risking passing through her classmates by accident.

He wasn’t going to grow old with her, following her out to college. 

That was why he hated Nick so much, why he picked on him every chance he got-

Nick could give Julie everything that he couldn’t. Musical/ soul connection be damned. 

But that was it though, even though he was trying to appear to have things under control, he clearly didn’t. He should (although he would never say this outloud), take a page of Nick’s book. Don’t move. Let himself be moved- 

Which brought him back to surrendering. 

He wouldn’t mind surrendering, wouldn’t mind being at the mercy of the wicked beauty that was Julie Molina, who looked at him in the way he hoped he looked at her- 

It really was up to her. 

He would very much like to be all that he could be for her… he accepted that now.

“ _I'm findin' it hard to believe… We're in heaven...”_

He slowly gathered himself, standing up, playing the ending notes, leveling Julie’s stare. 

She opened her mouth but struggled to get the words out. 

“Luke?” she managed to utter. 

He mindlessly worked the strings, not even needing to look down, “Yeah…?” 

Julie blinked at him, her browns boring into his hazel, “That was-” 

The sound of another guitar, louder than his, broke the spell, and their heads snapped back to Nick, who, they had almost forgotten about, was still there. 

Luke wanted to snap at him for ruining the moment, it was like Julie and him were on the verge of… something. But when he looked back at the blond- his voice died in his throat. 

He noticed two things: 

1) the tempo had picked up and Nick was capitalizing on it, on his turn, but switching gears for a more upbeat number, which was odd enough it itself. 

and

2) Nick was… well..

There was something… off about him. 

He was full on glowering at him. The first time throughout this whole exchange where he viewed him as another competitor, an almost manic sheen enveloping his face, feet spread apart, his stance ramrod straight otherwise- he was squaring up. Nick was looking at him… as if- 

-as if he was an enemy. 

And not in the petty kind of way, like how Luke had regarded him this whole time. 

Luke couldn’t help it, but he shivered and shrunk under the intense gaze. It made him want to run away and hide. 

But something so familiar. 

And he couldn’t place it, the way he stared him down, so patronizing, so… diabolical, like he wanted to… do him harm. 

He knew that from somewhere, somewhere far beyond anything Nick could ever be associated with. 

He couldn’t figure it out, where he had seen that before- 

Until he listened. Like really listened to what Nick was playing, some jazz number. 

But it wasn’t just any jazz number. All throughout his life (and afterlife) Luke never went out of the way to listen to jazz, apart from the big name musicians like Dizzy Gillespie or Buddy Guy.

And not like he could remember all the different songs anyway- they all sort of sounded the same to him. 

But this- he recognized it. 

There was no big band brass section, no drums, no flashy lights and dancers in colorful costumes- it was almost written off as some generic guitar lick. 

Then Nick’s eyes- already so light green, turned icy blue for just a fraction of a second. 

No. 

It couldn’t be… 

_Watcha gonna do? Watcha gonna do?_

His voice rang in his ears melding perfectly to the guitar part. 

It matched. It freakin’ matched- 

Oh no, no, no. 

_‘Caleb?’_

_Watcha gonna do? Watcha gonna do?_

_What?_

_How?!_ Luke wanted to yell, visibly freaking out but was busy being struck silent by Nick's foreboding grin. 

Nick. Caleb. Nick. Caleb-

Caleb was back. 

And not only he was here, in their studio, their sanctuary- 

but he was also … Nick?

How did that happen?!

_Watcha gonna do? Watcha gonna do?_

Nick, who had not blinked once since the start of the song, advanced little by little towards him. Luke jerked, stumbling so far backwards that he almost rammed into Julie. 

Oh no. 

Julie. 

She was so still and Luke thought she was just as terrified as he was. But no, looking back at her face, she didn’t move a muscle. Frantically, he waved a hand over her face. Her eyes didn’t track his movements. 

She was actually frozen. 

_Freakin’ ghost magic-_

He whirled back around to find Nick crowding his space, noses centimeters away from his. 

“What do you want?” 

The behavior change, the wardrobe switch, talking like a freakin’ old man, the tempo magically changing- it explained everything.

It wasn’t just in his head! This validated every suspicion he had of Nick- although he never, ever imagined this would be the reason why. 

Oh my god. 

He had been here, this whole time. Julie had let him come here. 

How much had he seen? Had he learned about them? Things that could be used against them, to force them to join the club- 

Caleb!Nick said nothing, finding it so amusing Luke would think he would elicit any viable reply out of him. 

God, he was still strumming that guitar, still strumming that damned riff- 

_Watcha gonna do? Watcha gonna do?_

Throwing caution to the wind, Luke’s arms flew out, grabbing the lapels of Nick’s blazer, shocked that he was able to make contact, now more obvious that who he was touching was not a Lifer. Not exactly. 

“I know you’re in there! Tell me what you want!” 

He only received a smirk in response. 

And then Nick craned his head to peer over his shoulder… to look at Julie. 

_Watcha gonna do? Watcha gonna do?_

His blood ran cold. 

“You wouldn’t,” 

Nick!Caleb laughed, “How could I not?” He glanced at the guitar in Luke’s hands, “Now that I know.” 

“Know what?” 

“Just how much she means… to you,” 

Then that was when it dawned on Luke… 

_Shit._

The riff-off. 

That was why Nick laid the flirting game a little too thick, playing those songs, kissing her hand, it wasn't to get Julie’s attention- but _Luke’s._

He had been over here for weeks, had seen how Luke looked at Julie, how protective he was when it came to the threat of another boy being in her life, spending more time with her. 

He must have had some semblance of an idea of the kind of feelings he harbored for her. 

And when Luke played into the bait, getting jealous and dropping everything to perform ‘Heaven’ for Julie, it only confirmed Caleb’s suspicions: 

Julie Molina was his weakness. 

This really had been a trap all along. But _he_ had been the one who was tricked. 

“If you touch her, I swear-” Luke snarled. 

Caleb!Nick jutted his head forward, “You’ll what?” 

_Watcha gonna do? Watcha gonna do?_

Playing one final note, he tipped his hat at Luke, “It’s too late, Luke. You already lost.” 

“Wha-?” 

He blinked and suddenly Nick was across the room, rocking back and forth innocently on his heels, a shy smile on his face- no trace of Caleb anywhere on him. 

And Julie, no longer petrified, was shaking him gently, “Luke?” 

Eyes still trained on Nick, he replied, mouth dry, reeling from what just happened, “Yeah?” 

“You lost,” 

He pivoted on his heel so fast, he almost fell, “What did you just say?” his voice shook. 

Did… did Caleb take her too? Like he had done to Nick-?

She furrowed her eyebrows at him, “Uh, I said ‘you lost’? Like you lost...the riff-off?” 

“Huh?” 

“Nick was done with his turn and you just… froze,” 

“Oh,” he replied numbly, the challenge couldn’t be any further from his mind… 

“Are you okay?” 

Luke’s eyes found Nick. 

The boy winked, bringing a finger to his lips, slyly. 

He gulped. 

Luke had never been so rattled, not even when he had been faced with his own death being wheeled into that ambulance, not even when he was tortured by Caleb’s jolts because it was directed at him. He didn’t matter. 

Caleb was no longer threatening him.

He was threatening Julie. 

Julie, who, with the access of Nick’s body, he would see everyday at school. Who he would have dance class with. Who no doubt walked with her in the hallways between class- 

So many opportunities for him to-no.

Luke couldn’t begin to think about what he may do to her to get to him and the guys. He couldn’t imagine anything horrible happening to Julie.

Not after what she had been through, not after what she had done for them, for _him_. 

He wasn’t going to let anything happen to her. And if that meant playing by Caleb’s rules for the time being, he would do it. 

He forced himself to nod and smile. 

“I’m fine,” 

Julie wasn’t convinced, probably finding it suspicious that Luke was taking such a defeat so calmly. 

She congratulated Nick on his victory anyway, complimenting his playing and Luke fought the urge to grab her and run, far far away from him. But he couldn’t. He had a feeling Caleb would be quicker. 

“Thanks, Molina,” he heard him say, “But I think it’s best that I go-” 

But the blond cut off. His whole body gone rigid. Eyes closed all of the sudden. 

Luke, out of instinct, grabbed Julie by the shoulders, keeping their distance, anticipating an attack. 

“Luke, what are you-? 

“Julie, don’t!” 

She shrugged him off, placing a friendly touch on her friend’s arm, “Nick. Nick? Are you okay?” 

At the sound of Julie’s voice, Nick’s eyes flew open, and the boy surged forward, guitar in his clutches, surprising all of them with another flurry of notes, playing a tune that had Julie scratch her head in confusion. 

“Nick?” 

The boy dropped the guitar as if it burned him, letting it swing off his neck. He seemed as stunned as they were. Nick’s eyes rested on Julie, then on Luke. His stare on him, neither scathing or intimidating. It only read as… confusion. 

Then shifted to panic. 

Luke straightened up. 

Hold on. 

His eyes, Nick’s eyes, they were much greener than before… 

“Are you okay?” he tried, _“Nick?”_

The boy’s mouth parted as if about to say something, but nothing was coming out. He struggled to speak. 

Then he blinked. Eyes cold again. 

Nick laughed uneasily, words flowing easy now, “Sorry, that was… weird.” 

“Taking a victory lap over there?” Julie said, inspecting him closely, worried. 

“I guess I just had one more-” 

Blink. 

The switch flipped- Nick shuddered and he was off again, and in a fit of desperation, eyes locked on Luke in particular, playing another quick song, but this time one that Luke knew. 

A _Beatles_ song: 

‘Help!’ 

Shit. 

Nick blinked again, wrenching away the guitar and setting it down against the chair and tried booking it for the door, “I think I should go now.” 

Julie stopped him from leaving just yet. “Are you sure you’re okay, Nick? You still want to go?” 

“Y-yes. I’m afraid so,” ‘Nick’ shot a dirty look at the guitar, apparently not expecting _that_ to happen.

Luke was certainly more intrigued given that development. 

Seemed like he wasn’t the only one with a weakness… 

“Cool. I’ll walk you out. Maybe go get some water,” Julie helped him out of the studio, rubbing his back, “Just give me one moment with Luke first.” 

“Sure,” 

And with that, Nick lingered outside while Julie closed the doors on him. 

A beat of silence passed, Julie’s hands rested on the handles. She took two deep breaths, steeling herself. 

Uh oh. 

The Caleb!Nick issue aside, Luke knew he was in for it now. 

Slowly she turned around, already making ‘that face’ at him. 

“Luke…” she joined her hands together, pressing it towards her mouth. She paused, “...you had promised me… you were going to behave-” 

He closed his eyes, “I know-” 

“I am _not_ finished,” she nearly growled. She tossed a glance at the door and she shooed Luke further into the studio, “I can’t believe I had to be here to witness whatever pissing contest that was!” 

“Julie!” he tried to interject, he gestured for them to whisper. This was his chance. He needed to let her know, but he couldn’t risk Caleb finding out. 

“Like that lasted for like half an hour-” 

“There’s something not right with Nick!” 

Julie crossed her arms, “Oh what is it this time? Because you had the nerve to say something about the way he was dressed. Like, not _you_ talking.” 

“Hey! This-” he motioned to his cutoffs and ripped jeans, “still works in 2020, thank you very much.” 

“Not the hair,” 

“What’s wrong with my hair? Wait, enough about me though-”

They were getting too off topic. Like his clothes and hair was not the most pressing issue they could be discussing at this very moment. But that reminded him- 

“But he _was_ dressing so weird! Like weirder than his fedoras. I mean, what kind of kid wears a sports coat everyday? And dress pants? And pointy shoes?” he tried to shift focus to the most obvious form of Caleb-fication-

“I think he looks nice!” 

Ugh. She was not getting it!

“Okay, Jules. But just now with the guitar-” 

“And you’re criticizing his playing too? Is nothing good enough for the great Luke Patterson?” 

That gave him pause. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Puh-lease. You’ve been nitpicky over Nick ever since he started being my dance partner at school. The way he dresses, his laugh- like come on! And he’s been trying so hard to befriend you and you’re constantly being a jerk to him-” 

“That’s not important right now!” he shook her shoulders, “Like all of that stuff, yes, but it’s not what I’m trying to say. Come on, Jules! Get with the program!”

He released her, running his hand through his hair, super stressed out.

“And just for the record? It’s not about him being good enough for me, okay? It’s always been about whether or not he’s good enough for you! Alright?” 

Oh. 

That wasn’t meant to come out. 

Julie squinted at him, growing more frustrated with him than endeared by that declaration. 

“Then if Nick isn’t good enough for me, then who is?” she challenged. 

“Erm… well…” Well, what he was supposed to say to that? 

He couldn’t just volunteer himself. Not anymore. Not after today, when he spent the entire time proving to her just how petty and ridiculous he could be when it came to jealousy…

Yeah. He admit that now. He had been so freakin' jealous, okay?

Julie seemed to accept the stuttering as a cession, “Wow. Look at that, speechless, huh? Because I’m the one who gets to see whether or not someone is good enough for me. Right? Me.” 

He sighed. She was right. 

She was always right… 

But this conversation wasn’t going where he wanted. 

Of course, she wasn’t going to listen to him now. Every suspicion he would try to voice just came off as being crazy jealous.

It was best to deescalate rather than push Julie to see what he saw in Nick. To switch tactics and focus on getting on her good side, and maybe she would be more open to heed his warning. 

Besides, he needed to apologize anyway. Properly. With words and not just song. 

“Look, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” 

“I know,” she sighed, She slowly brought her hands to meet his, intertwining them.

“And I know how… protective you get. I appreciate it sometimes, but don’t you think that I’ve brought Nick over enough times now to show you guys that I trust him?” 

_Bringing him over is exactly why I shouldn’t trust him… he’s seen too much…_

“Right,” 

There was a moment when they stood there facing each other, just relishing in the way that their hands were meeting, something they hadn’t been able to do for so long. It was so surreal every time they did it. 

Julie’s casted her head down, rubbing circles on the back of Luke’s hand. 

“Look… you know Nick and I aren’t dating, right?” 

Oh. 

“Could have… could have fooled me,” 

“We’ve just been hanging out,” she said, assuring him, "He's a friend." 

“Of course,” 

A small smile threatened to come out at the confirmation, even though it didn’t necessarily mean that he had a better shot. 

Just… knowing they weren’t dating, and by the sound of it, knowing that Julie had no intentions of wanting to date Nick… 

It might have probably been the only piece of good news he heard all day. 

Kinda made his inner turmoil from earlier seem so stupid now. How fired up he was over Nick being there, over him being so close with Julie… 

Now he was more worried about Nick but for _way_ different reasons… 

He had more legitimate reasons to get him to stay away from Julie… 

Julie nodded, her hand dancing along his forearm until it reached his shoulder.

“He’s a good friend. So, I’d appreciate it if you took the time to get to know him, okay? And hopefully you’ll see what I see. And from what I've seen is that maybe you all could get along real well. You got some stuff in common. Guitar for one thing.” 

Getting to know Nick… 

He would rather eat another spoiled hot dog. 

Yeah. They had stuff in common: guitar and Julie. That was it. 

And now that Julie said he wasn’t dating Nick, it didn’t mean that he was going to be automatically cool with him and was willing to get to know him, spend time with him just because she asked him to- 

Woah, hold on- he was talking about Nick as if Nick was still there. Like _there_ there. 

That was not Nick. It was Caleb hiding in Lacrosse Boy’s body right now. 

Who, at any minute, could pounce on Julie and threaten her life… 

Okay. Switching up tactics again- 

“You know what? That’s a good idea,” he ended up saying. 

Her mouth hung open, “Really?” 

“I would definitely _love_ to have the chance to get to know more about Nick,”

As in, he was never, _ever_ going to let the guy out of his sight as long as he was around Julie… 

“You’re serious?” 

“Big time,” He cupped her face, mustering up a natural smile, which came easy once he stared into her beautiful brown eyes. 

She grinned at him right back, overcoming her disbelief, “Okay. Wow. That’s very mature of you.Thank you.” 

He dropped his hands, “I can be mature!” 

“Sure, Luke. Whatever you say,” she nudged him playfully, walking towards the door- 

“But you guys sounded really good today. I know, I’m not like a rock expert or, I guess in Nick’s case, a jazz expert, but I was able to recognize like half of them.” 

She was about to open the door, when Luke had to ask- 

“Julie, do you happen to know what riffs Nick played though? In his little victory lap?” 

She grabbed her chin, recalling the recent songs.

“I mean, I knew the first one. It was from a Jonas Brothers song. After your time. Called ‘S.O.S’, You should check out their stuff, I think you’ll really like it,” she thought some more but came up empty, “The second one sounded familiar, but I just can’t seem to-” 

“The _Beatles,_ ” 

“Oh, what song?” 

“‘Help,’” 

“‘S.O.S’ and ‘Help’. That’s weird. You think he’s trying to tell us something?” she laughed, not seeing the truth of what she had just said. 

“Maybe…it’s the songs in his head? Trying to get out?” he attempted to joke, hiding the fear swelling up inside him at the revelation… 

Julie sighed, “Luke, you weren’t there. You wouldn't get it.” 

“Right,” 

“Like you had to be there- like you can’t just jump into an inside joke,” 

“I know-” 

“It’s just sad at this point,” 

“Geez, okay, Jules,” 

She wagged her head fondly at him, “I’ll be right back. Just gotta make sure Nick’s ok.” 

But that was the thing. 

Nick was not okay. Far from it. 

It wasn’t when he and Julie put the pieces together that they weren’t the only pawns in Caleb’s game.

And as much as Nick grated on his nerves by simply existing on this earth at the same time as Julie, there was no doubt that he needed help.

And Julie, if she knew, would never forgive him if there had been a chance to save Nick and he didn't take it.. 

And how was he going to help him exactly? 

Luke had no freakin’ clue. 

But he would figure it out. He and the boys would. They would find a way to purge Caleb from his body and get rid of him for good. They had evaded him once, they could do it again. 

The doors swung open and Julie was about to head out Nick towards the garden steps. 

Luke traced the edges of the guitar still hanging off his shoulder, and an idea formed. 

_Let the music speak for itself…_

Before Julie and Nick went too far ahead, Luke started strumming, something that would for sure raise some flags for dear ol’ Caleb. 

At the gate, he saw Nick turn back to look at him once the tune filtered out from the studio and out to where he was. 

Green eyes contracted slightly, almost relaxing.

Luke nodded at him, the song doing it’s job. He needed to let him know- 

‘We’ll get him out, dude.’ he wanted to voice out, but that would only alert Caleb. 

Speaking of which, the song did too good of a job and the next second Nick’s face was scowling at him. Julie however didn’t notice, having already gone ahead. 

“Nick, aren’t you coming?” 

“Yeah. On my way,” 

Luke nixed his guitar and poofed til he was out on the porch, making sure he kept a watchful eye on Caleb!Nick as Julie walked him out. 

Just then, that was when Alex and Reggie decided to come back from their endeavors and joined him on the porch.

His friends must had picked up how on edge he was and had refrained from their usual teasing about him being jealous of Nick, instead standing guard with him as Nick’s form became smaller and smaller, walking further away- from the house, from them…

from Julie. 

That was when Luke felt like he could breathe again (figuratively). 

Reggie elbowed him, “Yo, we heard you playing when we came in. Sounded kinda ominous.”

The bassist followed up with a wiggling of his fingers and, ironically, making ghost noises at him, 'Ooooooh.” 

“Yeah,” he muttered, waving to Julie as she made her way inside and upstairs. Hopefully where she could be safe. 

“Sounded familiar,” Alex said, “I’ve heard it before.” 

“Oh, it’s cuz it came from a movie,” 

“What movie?” 

Luke smirked to himself- 

“ _The Exorcist_ …”

**Author's Note:**

> This is something. 
> 
> Been working on it for a while. I'll clean it up more another time. I really just wanted to post it to celebrate having surpassed 500 followers on Tumblr! So thank you!
> 
> And since I'm extra, the reason why it took so long was because I kept trying to find the right guitar solos for both Nick and Luke. 
> 
> If you're curious, this is what I was listening to while I made these, time stamps are for particular portions of the songs if you look them up on Youtube. 
> 
> Don't hold me accountable for the tempo and the accuracy of the guitar parts. Really did my best. 
> 
> Nick:
> 
> Adventure of a Lifetime- Coldplay  
> She- Harry Styles 3:36- 5:44  
> Pretty Woman- Roy Orbinson  
> City Lights- Gary Clark Jr. 2:41- 3:35  
> The First Time I Met the Blues- Buddy Guy  
> Footprints- Ray Russell Quartet -  
> Mack the Knife (Guitar part as Trumpet)- Louis Armstrong  
> Other Side of Hollywood
> 
> Luke:  
> Eat the Rich- Aerosmith 2:25- 2:55  
> Working Man- Rush  
> 20th Century Boy- T. Rex 1:22-1:50  
> Dancer- Queen 2:47- 3:16  
> I Love Playin’ With Fire- The Runaways 1:25-1:55  
> Smells Like Teen Spirit- Nirvana  
> Heaven- Bryan Adams- 2:56- 3:55 (don't ask for any real significance to the song in terms of Juke, I just love this song and the guitar solo in it)


End file.
